I’ve just come back from Israel where we opened a new distributorship. I have to admit that I didn’t want to go. The media is always full of the bad things and none of the good. It took exactly five minutes for my distributor to persuade me. Looking back, I don’t know what I expected - perhaps a tent in the middle of the desert. What I found was that some parts of Israel look like Provence – lush and green with vineyards covering the hills. It also has wide beaches, white villages, ancient ruins, fabulous restaurants and a warm welcome wherever we went.

I had a unique experience in the Negev desert near the Dead Sea where we picked up sand of almost every color in the rainbow – ochre, red, green, blue, lilac. There I was looking at mineral powders millions of years old and still full of color. Cleopatra makeup! However, the FDA would have had a fit if we put it anywhere near our faces because of all the impurities the minerals must have contained.

Of course, we had to take a dip in the Dead Sea and slather ourselves in the black mud that stands in tubs along the beach. It felt wonderful going on and I must say that my skin felt smooth and alive afterwards. It seemed to take all the winter dullness away.

So I suppose this blog is to say thank you to all my new friends in Israel and to say how excited I was to see your excitement at discovering mineral powders that were pure enough to put on your faces. Don’t forget Powder-Me SPF, you’re going to need its easy protection as you get closer to those hot, steamy months.

Ceilidh

My beloved Labrador just sliced her ear. She loves to make snow angels and we’ve had plenty of snow this year for her to indulge her passion. This time there was a piece of glass.

When she came back from her run with her other Labrador friends, she greeted me as always by picking up the nearest stuffed thing – this time a walrus – and wagged her way towards me.

Then I saw this nasty flap hanging off her ear. Intent on greeting me as if she hadn’t seen me for six years, she was immensely surprised when I insisted she stop the celebration to let me examine her ear – the indignity of it all. I could practically hear her saying, “What’s all the fuss about?” A quick trip to the vet and several stitches later she was safely ensconced on her chaise longue and wondering when the next adventure was going to happen.

I, of course, was consumed with worry – the ear is an extremity, infection, losing her ear, death – hmmm! Then I remembered reading these words, “Don’t believe your thoughts.” This phrase comes from a book by Marci Shimoff called Happy for No Reason. She was the keynote speaker at our recent Sales Conference and changed our lives. I’m offering Marci’s book to you now as a way to raise the happiness level of your life.

My dog, by the way, is always happy for no reason. Oh, her name is Ceilidh which is the Gaelic word for celebration and pronounced kay-lee. In case you think that’s awfully fancy, it’s a word that’s used often in Scotland like this, “Let’s have a bonnie wee ceilidh.” Translation, “Let’s kick up our heels.” The name really suits her.

Her ear is healing nicely, incidentally. She was never worried about it.